Giant Squid beach themselves after quake off San Diego VIDEO

By April MacIntyre Jul 12, 2009, 18:37 GMT

Residents felt the shaker throughout San Diego county, and soon after seaside residents noticed the seagulls feeding on the giant squid, which appeared suddenly. EPA/RAOUL WEGAT

Giant squid beached themselves and began washing up on Orange county beaches just minutes after an earthquake off the San Diego coast in the Pacific ocean.

The local NBC affiliate reported that jumbo Humboldt squid appeared on shore minutes after 4.0 earthquake hit off the coast of La Jolla, a scenic San Diego county city.

The quake struck at 7.34 a.m. and was centered 19 miles out to sea.

Residents felt the shaker throughout San Diego county, and soon after, seaside residents noticed the seagulls feeding on the giant squid which appeared suddenly.

The video below shows beach goers trying to save the heavy squid by throwing them back in the water.

“Some people were saying it was the earthquake this morning that caused them to get disoriented but who knows? One resident told NBC Bay Area news.  “A state guy was out and said the earthquake caused (it),” Baumann told the NBC reporter.

A spokesman for Scripps Institution of Oceanography told NBC at this point they do not see a connection between the squid and the earthquake, but will investigate.